The Cosmic Story: Pisces New Moon & Spring Equinox, 2018

The Cosmic Story: Pisces New Moon & Spring Equinox, 2018

Letting the Tides Take Out the Old and Bring In the New

I felt the full breadth and depth of the ocean around the sphere of the Earth, back billions of years to the beginning of life, across all the passing lives and deaths, the endless waves of swimming joy and quiet losses, of exquisite creatures with fins and fronds, tentacles and wings, colourful and transparent, tiny and huge, coming and going. There is nothing the ocean has not seen. –Sally Andrew

When anxious, uneasy and bad thoughts come, I go to the sea, and the sea drowns them out with its great wide sounds, cleanses me with its noise, and imposes a rhythm upon everything in me that is bewildered and confused. -Rainer Maria Rilke

And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have, in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch it, we are going back from whence we came. –John F. Kennedy

The ocean is a place of skin, rich outer membranes hiding thick juicy insides, laden with the soup of being. –Vera Nazarian

The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever. -Jacques Cousteau

Pisces New Moon, 2018

This last Piscean New Moon of the astrological year invites us to remember that we come from the ocean of life and will return to it when this life’s journey here on Earth is done. The ocean of life is deep and full, bright and calm, dark and dangerous. The ocean is a place of wonder and mystery. The Ocean is the Source of eternal life we are all seeking. It is where we are all One.

These days, with the pollution of our waters and the dying off of species, that might be hard to remember. These days, when our collective psyches are polluted with the violent images we see in movies, tv and real life, our inner life can be polluted and in turmoil. That’s when, as Rilke says, it’s time to go to the sea and let it wash us clean and impose its life-giving rhythm upon us once again.

 

The best way to get through times of turmoil and change is through a strong connection to our souls and a deep belief in the power of spirit. This is the time for deep soulwork. It’s time for inner work. The best way I’ve found to do this inner work is through dreamwork and shamanic journeying.

If we want to change the world, we have to change how we live in the world. That means we have to know ourselves and heal our wounds and then live our talents and our possibilities. It’s time to stop living by patriarchal rules and start living our soul’s dreams. This possibility is the gift of this last Pisces New Moon before the Spring Equinox: a deep dive into the collective unconscious, so we can cast our nets to gather all of our ancient wounds and gifts and bring them up into the light of day. 

Like the ocean, life doesn’t travel in straight lines but in currents and flow, waves and calmness. We have to be strong swimmers if we want to live a life outside the patriarchal patterns laid down for us by our parents, our society, our education and our religions. That’s easier said than done. 

We keep getting pulled down by the undertow of our old fears, beliefs and behavior patterns, so we re-act rather than take action. With the watery energy of Pisces, things are mutable – nothing is as it seems. With Chiron, the Wounded Healer, aligned with this New Moon, we have a chance to meet our inner mentor, who can help us see our wounds, understand our wounds and heal our wounds.

 

It’s time to heal the wounds of thousands of years of lifetimes. Whether we’re just dealing with the lifetimes of the Piscean Age or if it goes back even further, we are here this lifetime to finish up the old business. Because a New Age is upon us, and we have to go into it washed clean if we want it to be different from these past ages. 

It’s time to release our Judeo-Christian (and Islamic) guilt, that we’re not good enough, lovable enough, talented enough, worthy enough to actually connect with our heart and soul and live by their rules. Guilt is such a wasted emotion. Guilt keeps us stuck in old patterns and fears – even if those patterns seem to be good and helpful and kind. Guilt can keep us from making the decisions that will bring us our own purpose and destiny.

We can feel too much responsibility to others and so neglect what could bring us our own joy and freedom. That is what this New Age demands of us. It’s not a selfish act – it’s a responsible act because if we can’t access our own joy and freedom, how can others ever learn to live that way. We’re supposed to be examples of a new spirituality that embraces life rather than denies it. We are not supposed to carry other peoples’ crosses for them. No matter how much it hurts to see our people hurt, we cannot heal them. They have to heal themselves, they have to become conscious through their pain and suffering. Haven’t we gone through those dark nights of the soul to find our own light? It does them a dis-service if we don’t allow them this chance to heal themselves and access their inherent connection to their soul. 

 

Uranus prepares to leave Aries this year, dipping into Taurus from May 15 to November 6^th (the US election) before heading back into Aries until it enters Taurus for good on March 6, 2019. Uranus in Aries has tried to wake us up to our real identities – our archetypal purpose. Instead of longing for the perfect love, perhaps we’re really here to be the Teacher or the Visionary. Instead of getting lost in Piscean service that sucks our energy, perhaps we are here to be the World Servant, one who balances Self and Other as the best kind of service we can offer. Instead of being called to Spirit as a nun or a monk who denies the body, perhaps we are called to be the Priestess or Priest of Life and Love, following the demands of our heart, our body and our soul, trusting the Truth they show us. 

If you want to discover why you’re here this lifetime, look for the house in your natal chart where your Sun lives. That is your true calling. If your Sun is in the 7^th house of partnerships, you are here to balance others with harmony, beauty, justice and consideration. If your Sun is in the 2^nd house of talents, you’re here to let your talent flourish for the world, not necessarily to make money. If you’re a 12^th house Sun, be the Visionary. Patriarchy gives us few choices – to be in a ‘romantic’ relationship, to work, to make money. Boring and narrow choices that feed the patriarchal machine but don’t necessarily nourish the soul.

So if you haven’t already found your purpose, take these next few years to do it. The world will be better for it. And you’ll be more fulfilled. Once Uranus goes into Taurus from 2019 – 2026, we will be building our new world based on what we have discovered about ourselves.

Mars is in the last degree of Sagittarius conjunct Vesta – the fire priestess-- on the Galactic Center. He is her spiritual warrior and protector. They challenge this New Moon to stay open to new beliefs and possibilities. Don’t fall into the Shadow Sagittarius’ judgment and self-righteousness, although the world at the moment will call it forth. It’s okay to get angry at what is happening in the world or what your people are up to, but don’t get lost in the anger. All emotions are necessary and important. It’s how we deal with those emotions that matter. Stand up for your truth in the face of bullying and disrespect, but don’t do the same back. As that wise teacher, Jesus of Nazareth once said, ‘Do unto others what you would have them do unto you.’ Shame them into it if you have to by your own strong example.

Jupiter just turned retrograde in Scorpio on March 8^th, allowing us time to dive even deeper into our complex psychological identities and expand our knowledge of who we are in ourselves and in our relationships. When Jupiter turns back to direct motion on July 10^th, if we’ve done our inner work, we’ll be ready to ride the waves more securely into the future.

The Pisces New Moon occurs on March 17, 2018 at 6:11am PDT/ 9:11am EDT/ 1:11pm GMT.

The Sabian symbol for the Sun and Moon at 27* Pisces is: The Harvest Moon illuminates a clear autumnal sky. Dane Rudhyar in his An Astrological Mandala states that this degree is a karmic moment – it’s the seed of a new cycle of manifestation. Make it so! This harvest Moon is the light of fulfillment that blesses work well done.

 

The Sabian symbol for Chiron at 29* Pisces is: Light breaking into many colors as it passes through a prism. This next to last degree of the zodiac speaks to the fact that just as we seek unity with Self, with Spirit, with Other, we will always break up into multiplicity again – but on a higher level. Become the Rainbow! 

 

These images speak of letting go of the past and allowing a new order or configuration to arise from it. And see – it is BEAUTIFUL!

The Sabian symbol for Jupiter turning retrograde at 24* Scorpio is: Native Americans making camp after moving into a new territory. This image implies the ability to adjust swiftly to a new situation by tuning into its requirements. Living in harmony with nature helps us live intuitively. Live within nature’s cycle and you’ll be at home in the world.

Spring Equinox 2018

Spring Equinox arrives on Tuesday, March 20^th at 9:16am PDT/ 12:16pm EDT/ 4:16pm GMT. On this day of the balance of Light and Dark, the goddess Persephone arises from the Underworld and brings back life to the northern hemisphere. The Sun will rise due East on this day as it begins its ascent into the northern hemisphere. And Aries, the first fire sign – the cardinal fire sign – brings back the fires of life to us. So take time today to meditate, journey and dream about what new life you want to bring into the world this year. 

 

The Sabian symbol for this first degree of the zodiac is: A woman just risen from the sea. A seal is embracing her. This symbol resonates with the symbol of last summer’s Great American Eclipse at 29* Leo: A Mermaid emerges from the ocean waves ready for rebirth in human form. Let this new life come from your heart’s hope. It’s the only way to live if we want to change the world!

 

Kerstin Zettmar ~ Aphrodite Rise from the Sea

The Spring Equinox chart describes the next 3 months – some think it describes the whole next year. The chart has an Aries Sun trine the Mother Goddess Ceres, a waxing crescent Taurus Moon trine Saturn and Mars in Capricorn and sextile Neptune in Pisces, making for grounded, creative growth. Venus and Mercury are conjunct in Aries, helping us to speak with beauty and consideration – even when we’re irritated. There might be economic troubles heading our way, but we knew this, didn’t we?

Mercury Retrograde, March 22, 2018

It’s felt like Mercury retrograde for the past month or so, hasn’t it? Even though all the planets have been in direct motion until Jupiter’s retrograde on March 8^th. I guess 2 steps forward and 1 step back. Mercury turns retrograde at 17* Aries back to 5* Aries. All the Mercury retrogrades this year are in fire signs – helping us curb our enthusiasm so we feel and think before we act.

The Sabian symbol for Mercury retrograde at 17* Aries is: Two dignified spinsters sitting in silence.  Spinsters originally were women who spun thread and yarn -- valuable workers who made clothes.  It was only later that the word was used for older, unmarried women -- women who 'belonged to themselves'.  Never forget, the Fates were spinners. This symbol indicates it’s time to use our minds to turn within, look within and listen within. A great idea that indicates that this Mercury is related to the alchemical Thrice - Great Hermes. It's time to let your mind spin some magic!

 

May the Balance of Light and Dark guide you now.

Cathy

Please Like and Share!  Thank you.
Copyright 2018  Cathy Lynn Pagano

The Cosmic Story: Virgo Full Moon, 2018

Channeling Our Soul’s Intention

Alex Grey ~ Super Consciousness

 

The January 31^st partial solar eclipse in Aquarius gave us the opportunity to upgrade our operating system, helping us think ‘outside the box’ about what we can do as human beings. We are changing, becoming more intuitive, more self-aware and better able to stand up for our beliefs. We’re uniting our inner masculine and feminine energies to become what psychologist Jean Houston calls ‘the possible human’.

This possible human leads with the heart rather than the head. Not in an unconscious display of emotions like our fearful leader does in his twitter rants, but rather coming from a compassionate awareness that we are all in this together. The human heart has a bigger magnetic field than any other organ in the body, even the brain. It is our third brain, the mystical brain of compassionate awareness. Our other brains deal with survival and our creative imagination.

When we lead from the heart, we only see unity. We see that we are all one family called humanity.

The old operating system only sees divisions. It’s based on the need to survive at all costs and gives rise to hierarchies of power. We are seeing the end game of that kind of system. It leads to death, because it refuses to die so it can be reborn again on a higher level. The old death machine is fighting back, because that’s all it knows how to do now.

While I write this newsletter, my computer screen keeps flashing pictures of my 2 ½ year old grandson. My heart overflows with love whenever I see his smiling face. Our children are so precious.

And then I flash to what happened to our children in Florida, and to all the children who have died in school shootings, and think, ‘why should my grandson be more precious than these children?’ Children who died to feed a ‘dead’ society that just doesn’t want to die – a true Zombie Apocalypse

 

And my heart told me the Truth.

Our American society, which we want to see as good and loving, helpful and brave, is showing its underbelly. We are the ultimate corporate state. Our companies use slave labor to make the clothes we buy and throw out. We waste energy and pollute the Earth for profit. We don’t take care of our people or our common good. Selfishness leads to greed. We are consumers rather than citizens. That’s what America has fallen to.

Plato, who imagined an ideal and just City, would weep for our loss. We are definitely not ‘the shining city on the hill’ of justice and peace that all people of good will long for. This is not freedom to create the world we want and need. This is freedom to have 60 choices of soap and cheap, throw-away clothes, and dead, poisoned food. And insipid, 24-hour TV shows which dull the imagination and fill our psyches with violence.

Some of our people think they still live in the ‘wild west’ and need their guns for courage, for who knows when someone will attack. It doesn’t matter that our children are dying for their fears – both abroad in our multiple wars (why don’t our leaders and their children go to war instead of sending our youngsters) and at home, in our cities and for a long time now, in our schools. Who kills children?

We are the most fearful nation. Why? Not because of outside attacks. We are vulnerable from inside our own nation. Like cancer, we are rotting from the inside out. The need to get a gun and kill people is just as prevalent in America as it is in the Middle East. We just don’t call ourselves terrorists. We say, ‘oh, they’re just crazy’.

And yet we don’t call out the very people who make these weapons of death and destruction. They are the truly crazy people for they amass fortunes through death.

Fundamentalists fear the Anti-Christ. Perhaps they are the Anti-Christ. For sure our culture is. For we are against (anti) spirit (Christ-consciousness).

People don’t ‘need’ guns. They’ve been trained to believe they do. And they seem to enjoy killing, if not people, then animals. If they just want to test their skills, why not take up archery or knife throwing? They are tools for killing as well but not as lethal. And they give the other guy a chance to strike back. It equals out the power. But then you’d have to have some courage to face an opponent head on rather than from behind a gun barrel.

We refuse to hold our government accountable for these deaths. Our leaders let our home-grown terrorists access guns without any checks and balances. Who would sell an automatic rifle to a kid? Are we any better than Boko Haran and Islamic State who kidnap kids and make them fight and kill their own people?

Our government officials are accountable. They are bribed by groups such as the NRA and corporate killers. They have blood on their hands. And they don’t care.

We are accountable by not participating in our government. Isn’t it time we did?

Our children have had enough and they are standing up to this death machine. I wondered where they found the courage and will to do this. And then I re-watched a Harry Potter film “The Order of the Phoenix”, where Hogwarts is taken over by a crazed woman who refuses to acknowledge EVIL. She refuses to let these young magicians learn how to defend themselves from Voldemort, and punishes them for even believing that this evil was abroad in the world. And so Harry teaches them.

Our kids grew up with this powerful story of a boy and his friends standing up to EVIL. And like all great myths, these stories make us better people. Perhaps they gave our kids the courage to face down the evils in our society.

Our kids need us to stand up with them – which our parents didn’t do for us in the 60-70s when Uranus and Pluto started a new cycle of evolution and revolution. As the potent square between Uranus in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn wanes, we are called to transform our society. And the children are leading the way.

Virgo—Pisces Full Moon, 2018

The Virgo Full Moon occurs on March 1^st at 4:51pm PST/ 7:51pm EST and on March 2^nd at 12:51am GMT. 

 

The Sabian symbol for the Moon at 12* Virgo is: After the wedding, the groom lifts the veil away from his bride’s face. This is a time to unveil the mysteries of life. Interestingly, apocalypse means an unveiling. In mystical traditions, the groom is the Divine Spirit. The bride is the Soul. It’s time to marry our soul to spirit and live out its intention.

The Sabian symbol for the Sun at 12* Pisces is: In The Sanctuary Of An Occult Brotherhood, Newly Initiated Members Are Being Examined And Their Character Tested. Are we passing our initiation? Have we learned the lessons of our past? Can we go on to become newly awakened Possible Humans?

The Sabian symbol for Neptune at 14* Pisces is: A Lady Wrapped In A Large Stole Of Fox Fur. This is a feminine energy attuned to natural instincts. The Celts see foxes as wise guides, especially when confronted by obstacles and tricky situations. Fox is mentally and physically cunning and knows how to traverse the dark places as well as the dream world.

Combined with the Pisces Sun symbol, our spiritual consciousness has to be attuned to our instinctual wisdom. And the Virgo Moon wants to incarnate both.

Neptune is the spiritual energy of the creative imagination and it comes to us in vision, dreams and inspiration. But if left unconscious, it can drain our energies and confuse our ego. With four planets and two asteroids in Pisces, it’s time to let go of our ego agendas and let Spirit take us into the flow.

The Virgo Moon draws upon the Piscean energies of not only the Sun and Neptune, but also Venus, Mercury and Chiron in Pisces, bringing all that watery energy down to earth in a practical way to heal and purify us. Grounded in the here and now details of life, we can begin to discern the treasures of the creative imagination from our collective delusions and ‘fake news’.

We have entered a time very much like the early 70s, when there were protests and civic disruption. Our leaders were caught off-guard then, but you have only to turn on the news to see that our corporate elites have prepared for this round of revolution. They are trying to take away our 1^st Amendment ‘right to protest’ just as they are determined to stop any curtailment of the 2^nd Amendment ‘right to bear arms’. So it’s okay to kill people (especially children) but not okay to protest against a government that no longer serves the common good.

We will need the cunning of the fox to help us stand up for our values and beliefs. That’s where the ARTS come in. Pisces is very much connected to Art, for it is the sign not only of spirit but of imagination, which uses the vehicle of the Arts to express itself.

Alex Grey ~ Painting

The Republicans have eroded any government support for the ARTS, especially since it was our artists (think John Lennon) and musicians who led the way in the 70s for our cultural revolution. Now we once again need our artists to help change the collective tides. Art speaks to the heart and so I ask, where are our musicians, our Bards, our artists, our dancers? Where are they telling the story of NOW, of what it means to take a stand at these most dangerous and beautiful times of cultural transformation?

Mercury, Venus and Chiron are conjunct in late Pisces, giving voice to healing visions. With a strong trine from Jupiter in Scorpio, just before Jupiter turns retrograde on March 8^th, we have the ability to dig deep into the soul, facing the wounds of this lifetime and many previous ones. What better way to express what we discover than through Art?

Art is one of the blessings of Pisces. And as we leave the Piscean Age, we need to take our Artists seriously. And they need to take themselves seriously and tell us the story of our times. That will begin a great healing of our collective psyche.

It’s time to bring more healthy nourishment into our collective lives, and that begins in our own lives. Don’t forget that we are all artists, so dance and sing, play music, create art and story and share it with your communities.

With Saturn in Capricorn and Pallas in Taurus forming a grand earth trine with this Virgo Moon, we have the energies to strategize and manage how to bring our dreams into manifestation. Just remember. Take it slow. Saturn wants to build solid foundations and so we have to be patient and let things develop in their own time and place. That means, we have to get off of patriarchal time and step into cosmic flow.

With Mars and Vesta in Sagittarius squaring the Venus, Mercury, Chiron conjunction, we have to know when and how to speak our truths, otherwise, they will go unheard.

Mars and Vesta in Sagittarius trines Uranus and Black Moon Lilith in Aries as well as the Leo North Node. Once again, be inspired to bring up what has been wounded and rejected and know that we can burn the old off if we use the vision of the possible human to guide us.

These are some of the characteristics of this new order of being.

1, We have to form a new relationship with what we have called ‘God’ in the past. Instead of an institution or a set of rules about what is ‘good’ or ‘evil’, we have to form an individual connection within to Spirit and learn how to distinguish Its voice from our ego’s voice. Listen to Susan Vega singing Leonard Cohen’s Story of Isaac. We are going to have our individual connection to the Creative Spirit.

2. We all have to become Self-Aware. We need to know who we are and what our individual purpose is. It is definitely NOT about what job we have. Know Thyself was inscribed on Apollo’s temple at Delphi.

3. We have to learn that we are all in this together. We are facing the serious environmental consequences of our modern lifestyle. We can no longer think in terms of them or us. We are all us.

On this final full Moon before the Spring Equinox starts another new cycle of life here in the northern hemisphere, let us leave the old behind and step into the future.

Do it for and with the children.

Walk in peace and love,

Cathy

In Silence -- Thomas Merton

In Silence

Be still.
Listen to the stones of the wall.
Be silent, they try
To speak your

Name.
Listen
To the living walls.
Who are you?
Who
Are you? Whose
Silence are you?

Who (be quiet)
Are you (as these stones
Are quiet). Do not
Think of what you are
Still less of
What you may one day be.
Rather
Be what you are (but who?) be
The unthinkable one
You do not know.

O be still, while
You are still alive,
And all things live around you
Speaking (I do not hear)
To your own being,
Speaking by the Unknown
That is in you and in themselves.

“I will try, like them
To be my own silence:
And this is difficult. The whole
World is secretly on fire. The stones
Burn, even the stones
They burn me. How can a man be still or
Listen to all things burning? How can he dare
To sit with them
When all their silence
Is on fire?”

~ Thomas Merton ~

(The Strange Islands: Poems by Thomas Merton)

The Cosmic Story: Aquarius New Moon Solar Eclipse 2018

The Cosmic Story: Aquarius Solar Eclipse, 2018

This could be the start of something BIG!

Solar eclipses are new beginnings, so if you find yourself cleaning out old spaces and attitudes, you know it's because something new is just around the corner. 

 

This partial solar eclipse in Aquarius occurs on the South Node of the Moon and can be seen in the lower southern hemisphere around Antarctica. Each eclipse is part of a series of eclipses and this partial (meaning it looks like a cookie with a bite in it!) solar eclipse is part of a relatively new series that began in 1729 and will end in 2991. Each eclipse series (called the Saros Series) tells an unfolding story, and so we need to go back to the beginning to see how it all starts.

The original eclipse in Saros Series 150 occurred on August 24, 1729 as a 2* Virgo New Moon, in the sign of service and mastery. The Sabian symbol is: A large white cross dominates the landscape. Dane Rudhyar states that it symbolizes the wisdom and compassion which only the experience of suffering and isolation can bring. The mystic path of Initiation always involves the suffering of the heart, our personal crucifixion, out of which arises from our inner depths this wisdom and compassion. Rudhar calls it a liberating ordeal.

 

Virgo's lesson is to learn to be of service to each other, the world and to our Higher Selves. “When you help, you see life as weak. When you fix, you see life as broken. When you serve, you see life as whole. Service rests on the basic premise that the nature of life is sacred, that life is a holy mystery that has an unknown purpose. When we serve, we know that we belong to life and to that purpose. From the perspective of service, we are all connected. All suffering is like my suffering and all joy is like my joy. The impulse to serve emerges naturally from these perceptions.” (Rachel Naomi Reme, MD. Helping, Fixing or Serving? Shambala Sun , September 1, 1999.)

So behind our present eclipse is the overriding story of this eclipse series: Our hearts have been tested and our task is to heal our hearts, think with our hearts and learn the lessons of the heart, It is interesting that this original eclipse had the North Node at 15* Aquarius/ South Node at 15* Leo. Exactly opposite where they are for this week's eclipse. The Sabian symbol for 15* Aquarius is: Two love birds singing and flying joyfully around each other. And for 15* Leo: A loud and colorful circus parade snakes through the city streets. Our original instructions were to get out of the delusional circus of life and fly free with love. Our new instructions bring us back to celebrate everyday life, but centered in that higher, spiritual love.

Originally this series invites us to learn to be more objective and discerning so we can look at things from an ideal, spiritual perspective. With this 2018 eclipse, we are called upon to take into consideration the promptings of our hearts and form new patterns of belief to live by that accord with our heart's hopes and values. And to celebrate life here on Earth. 

 

What a wonderful thing to learn this Valentine's Day! With Venus' re-appearance as an Evening Star and with Juno, the asteroid of equal partnerships, conjunct this New Moon solar eclipse, we are called to implement a new balance between the head and heart, between masculine and feminine consciousness, between women and men. 

 

As patriarchy winds down, the rise of the Divine Feminine won't devalue masculine consciousness, but it will demand that we center ourselves in our hearts, in our imaginations and in our spiritual awareness. For She returns to us as Wisdom, Who among our leaders asks for an understanding heart like wise King Solomon? That leaves it up to us to be the leaders of our communities and our world. A true democracy.

The other interesting thing about this solar eclipse is that it not only occurs exactly opposite last August's Great American Eclipse, but it's also on the degree of the U.S. Moon in the 4^th of July chart. The Moon in a country's birth chart represents the people. This could, and should, be the giant wake-up call to the American people. It's time to awaken to the challenges of a true democracy, which is that we all have a stake in the world and our leaders are suppose to represent us, not their corporate masters. Our leaders are creating their own downfall. So it is up to each of us to create a new society based on that promise of wisdom and compassion.

 

Aquarius New Moon

This week's Aquarius Solar Eclipse occurs on Thursday, February 15^th at 1:05pm PST/ 4:05pm EST/ 9:05pm GMT.

The Sabian symbol for the Sun and Moon at 28* Aquarius is: A tree felled and sawed to ensure a supply of wood for the winter. This image speaks to preparedness, to the sacrifices we make in life (the tree's life) so we might survive and prosper in the future. It is time to integrate those past lessons which have kept us unconscious and bound to the limiting beliefs of patriarchy. What have we learned by trying to follow the road laid down for us by our capitalist, Christian society? Are we living the life we imagined and hoped for? Perhaps those beliefs were never the real deal. 

 

Aquarius is future-oriented, visionary and idealistic. Our current collective consciousness blueprint is outdated. We're running an old operating system more suited to the early 20^th Century. Aquarius can see patterns, for it is the realm of the Archetypes, our original Earth patterning. The archetypes can and do wear out their energies, becoming stereotypes of important, original patterns of life.

Our beliefs around God, capitalism, gender roles, justice, peace, relationships are all undergoing transformations. The basic patterns are there – we just need to renew them with different beliefs and new energies.

It's time to renew all the archetypal patterns of life. (I think this is going to happen while Uranus is in Taurus for the next 7 years.) We do this by understanding what we believe and then living those beliefs. The archetype of the King used to be focused on leaders as well as the dominant cultural mindsets, such as our religions or economic theories. But these energies no longer attract large numbers of people – our emotional bodies no longer seek what these old dominants have to offer. We don't want our leaders to be kings or queens, and we don't want priests to intervene with our connection to Spirit. Lots of us don't even like capitalism anymore – at least not the capitalism our corporations follow. (While they've achieved personhood under the law, they have no moral authority. Because they don't have a heart.)

Indra's Net

Aquarius gives us a larger perspective, one where we can see vast possibilities and interconnections that our everyday minds, tied to patriarchal beliefs, can't fathom. Lucky for us that Mercury, the archetypal energy of the Mind, joins the Sun during this eclipse, birthing a new mind, a beginner's mind, that can encompass and evaluate these emerging patterns. Mercury is receiving brilliant energies not only from Aquarius' co-ruler, Uranus in Aries, achieving a new balance between our higher mind and lower mind, but also from Jupiter in Scorpio, expanding our ability to see beneath the surface, face the Shadow and transform our values. 

 

 

I see this as the birth of Mercurius, the alchemical Mercury Mind. The Mind capable of transformation to higher levels of consciousness, the Mind that can turn lead into gold through understanding the lessons of life. Jupiter expands the Mind, while Uranus bestows great insight and intuition on us for seeing the future possibilities in new beginnings. Don't be surprised at the new ideas and connections you make as your higher Mind takes over and you step into a new perspective. This could be the start of something big!

This New Moon solar eclipse can energize us to let go of our habitual mindset, step out of our old behavior patterns and envision the re-birth of these archetypal powers of life. And since Aquarius rules our collective consciousness, this eclipse can re-set our collective mental blueprint of what makes life worth living. How can we not want that in the face of environmental destruction and the growing rift between the moneyed few and the struggling masses? 

 

There is so much more to life than wars, violence, domination, greed, competition and the pillaging of Mother Earth. That's what patriarchy has concentrated on. Many of us can see a world of respect for our Mother Earth, which can lead to peace, beauty and harmony, to cooperation and creativity, to community and shared resources. And balance once again between ourselves and all the rest of Mother Earth's children. 

 

We are each seeking to find our own inner king and queen. We are spiritual seekers who can't be contained in a religion. We are community-oriented rather than individualistic/egotistic. We know we are all connected – both energetically and literally on the Internet. We say we believe things that don't fit into the patriarchal paradigm. So why are we still living as if we do? 

 

These recent eclipses tell us it's time to take action. So let's see what our action energy, Mars, is up to. At this solar eclipse, Mars travels with Vesta, the priestess, in Sagittarius, discussing their spiritual beliefs, aiming their fiery arrows at the Leo North Node to bring those beliefs to the table to activate our heart's love for Spirit. Neptune in Pisces challenges them to imagine our old beliefs and values and how they impact life. Don't delude yourself. Are they serving you? Or serving the patriarchy? What new patterns of belief want to take form? Mars will pick up on what's needed and grapple with the issue until it's resolved. 

 

Neptune brings up an important issue for us. Our beliefs and values for the past 2000 years have been shaped by a patriarchal consciousness that wants to control all aspects of our lives. But most especially they took control of our souls. And since we need our souls to awaken and inform the most creative aspects of our lives, our spiritual nature must be the foundation of our new belief system. 

 

The growth of shamanism in the past 50 years is an example of these new spiritual perceptions we need to bring to our collective consciousness. Shamanism is an inherent talent we all have in our DNA – Jungians call it active imagination, shamanism calls it journeying. It is the innate ability to go within consciously and to connect to our soul and our creative imagination, which is the means to connect with the invisible dimensions of life. 

 

All ancient cultures valued this ability to communicate not just with higher spirits or the spirits of the dead, but with Earth herself. Mother Earth is the Anima Mundi, the World Soul or the Sophia, and she has her own consciousness, which Jung called the collective unconscious, mystical traditions called the Akashic Records, and the Hawaiian kahuna mystics call the great gathering of human oversouls.

 

We have the ability to connect to the vast treasure trove of Earth's collective wisdom as well as the wisdom of other dimensions. This is the great sin of the religions of the book – that they took control over our most sacred Light, the seed of Divinity within each of us. Now that we know that all great spiritual teachers had the same message – you all all sons and daughters of the God-force – it is time to incorporate that most important wisdom into our worldview.

We are all spiritual beings having a human experience.

We will treat ourselves and each other and Mother Earth and her children with respect and love when we really believe this. That's how the ancient peoples lived and prospered. In direct communication with Earth's bio-sphere and the higher intelligences that guard and protect our planet. And that's what we'll need to do as we transition to a new age. From the sounds of it, we will have to go through hard times as climate change takes it's toll and earth-changes become more common. These will be the liberating ordeals more people have to go through to awaken to their spiritual natures.

But if we've been doing our work all these years, we will lead the way to these changes, and that's why it is so important for each of us to go beyond our present cultural mindset and ego to objectively see, give meaning to and then let go of beliefs and values that no longer serve us. 

 

That's the promise of this solar eclipse in Aquarius. Once we release old mental structures and habits, a new operating system can be installed, one that is patterned on our awakened spiritual insights and understanding. What a different life we live when we actually know that all of life is sacred and meaningful. The plans we imagine, the decisions we make, the connections we feel, will be more attuned to our heart's values and therefore, they'll bring joy to our lives where before fear ran amok. 

 

I pulled an Earth Wisdom card for this solar eclipse and I got Transformation. It brings awareness and light to consciousness and understanding of one's higher purpose. This requires a re-arrangement of our world-view and practices that bring our actions in line with our ideals. 

 

Walk with the Light in Joy,

Cathy

Pleiades

The Giver of Stars

Hold your soul open for my welcoming.
Let the quiet of your spirit bathe me
With its clear and rippled coolness,
That, loose-limbed and weary, I find rest,
Outstretched upon your peace, as on a bed of ivory.

Let the flickering flame of your soul play all about me,
That into my limbs may come the keenness of fire,
The life and joy of tongues of flame,
And, going out from you, tightly strung and in tune,
I may rouse the blear-eyed world,
And pour into it the beauty which you have begotten.

~ Amy Lowell ~
(Sword Blades & Poppy Seeds)

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